So Say We All

Battlestar Galactica came to an end this past Friday and it was like losing an old friend. It was truly the best fracking show on TV. But it’s never gonna get the accolades it so righteously deserves. Why you ask? Because it’s science fiction and we just can’t take that seriously now can we? We can when it stars Edward James Olmos and a crew of other ridiculously talented people.

Edward James Olmos (EJO) first blipped on my dradis screen when I was in high school. My algebra teacher decided to show us a movie and we thought, who gets to watch a movie in math class? For that reason alone, I can remember being excited. They showed us Stand and Deliver, a film starring the man himself as an inner city high school teacher who reaches a bunch of kids … ok, I won’t get into that. Point is, he was good. Great in fact, and you know he had to be if 16 year old me noticed. You see EJO isn’t exactly a handsome leading man type. His teeth are atrocious, his complexion is unfortunate and I wouldn’t say he’s ever been the most fit and trim fellow. But he is a great actor. It’s like Al Pacino or Robert De Niro or Christopher Walkin – they aren’t especially good looking men, but they are these incredible Academy Award wining actors who transcend shortness (Pacino), unfortunate facial mole placement (De Niro) and skeletal creepiness (Walkin). If those guys can win Academy Awards, can’t we give Edward James Olmos an Emmy?

On Battlestar Galactica EJO portrays Admiral William Adama, the leader of what’s left of the Colonial fleet after the Cylons attack and nuke the colonies. Basically, if you happened to be in space at the time, you had a chance at surviving. In the original 1970’s series Adama was portrayed Loren Greene, you know, the Alpo guy who used to be on Bonanza. The new series is nothing like the original (thank the gods!) and the Loren Greenesque style of portraying Adama fortunately got flushed out an airlock. EJO’s Adama is gritty and flawed. He drinks too much, hates change and is a stubborn old bastard. His love affair with President Roselyn is one of the most beautiful and complex relationships ever captured in a TV series. For spacing Loren Greene and loving President Roselyn, can’t we please give Edward James Olmos an Emmy?

William Shatner portrayed the captain of another famous starship that whether you love or hate, is ingrained in our pop culture – he’s of course Captain James T. Kirk of the starship Enterprise. The Shat is best known for this role, and also for how seriously bad his acting was while portraying him. Has a fictional character ever been more mocked or impersonated than William Shatner doing his very best Captain Kirk complete with pregnant pauses and meaningful looks? He even parodies himself now as the Priceline Negotiator. We apparently all live in some mirror universe because in 2005 the Shat, world renowned bad actor extraordinaire, won an Emmy for his work on Boston Legal. If the Shat can win an Emmy, I mean really people, can’t we give Edward James Olmos an Emmy too?

Have you ever seen an original SciFi Channel movie? They have titles like Boa vs. Python, Mansquito and Supergator. They are as gods awful as their titles sound. “SciFi Original” is like the brand of death – it sucks the quality right out of a project. Except for Battlestar Galactica. They had a long history of really bad juju working against them, but somehow pulled this amazing show right out of their asses. The special effects are movie quality and the writing is mind blowing. More would happen each week before they rolled the opening credits than would happen on three episodes of most shows. And the acting …what can I say. Can’t we please just give Edward James Olmos a fracking Emmy already!?

I don’t know how else I can say this in order to make myself clear, so I’ve composed the following haiku to better convey my feelings on this subject.

So Say We All, a fracking haiku to be read in the voice of the Cylon hybrid

Edward James Olmos
a nod from Emmy deserved
righteous, end of line